The bantamweight title tilt atop the latest KSW offering feels like a postlim after the two
goliaths hit the scales in the co-main event.
At
KSW 64, the fight card at the Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland, will
be capped off by a 135-pound championship affair pitting Sebastian
Przybysz (8-2) against Bruno
Augusto dos Santos (10-2). Despite gold on the line in that
one, all eyes will instead be on the super heavyweight slugfest
between Mariusz
Pudzianowski (15-7, 1 NC) and Serigne
Ousmane Dia (2-0). Like the days of Pride Fighting Championships, one competitor
comfortably eclipsed the 300-pound mark with no issues. Two
preliminary fighters did miss weight, but the event is now cleared
to carry on.
Przybysz wrested the bantamweight belt from Antun Racic
at KSW 59 in a bit of an upset, surviving a knockdown and making it
to the end to capture a decision after five hard-fought rounds. The
challenger Santos has gone 1-1 inside the KSW cage since debuting
in December, losing to Racic in his first KSW fight but bouncing
back to defeat Pawel
Politylo in July to earn a crack at gold. The champion and his
opponent both made championship weight exactly at 135 pounds
apiece.
Both Pudzianowski and “Bombardier” were set to dance atop KSW 59,
but the gargantuan Dia was hospitalized due to appendicitis on
fight day and he was replaced by newcomer Nikola
Milanovic. The five-time World’s Strongest Man has won three in
a row over the last two years, with knockouts of Erko Jun,
Milanovic and Lukasz
Jurkowski bolstering his resume at 44 years of age. His
Senegalese opponent Dia has only won two pro bouts, combining for
2:11 in total competition as he crushed Amadou
Papis Konez and Dan Podmore
in 2018 and 2020, respectively. “Pudzian” hit the scales at 260
even pounds, while “Bombardier” surpassed him by nearly 70 pounds,
weighing in at the 327-pound mark.
KSW 64, which takes place in Lodz, Poland, at the Atlas Arena on
Saturday, can be viewed on KSW.TV as a pay-per-view. The nine-fight
billing begins at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT/8 p.m. CET.
KSW 64 Weigh-in Results:
Sebastian
Przybysz (135) vs. Bruno
Augusto dos Santos (135)
Mariusz
Pudzianowski (260) vs. Serigne
Ousmane Dia (327)
Filip
Pejic (146) vs. Daniel
Rutkowski (146)
Robert
Ruchala (146) vs. Patryk
Kaczmarczyk (146)
Michal
Pietrzak (169) vs. Shamil
Musaev (171)
Karolina
Owczarz (123) vs. Sylwia
Juskiewicz (121)
Cezary
Kesik (185) vs. Marcin
Krakowiak (185)
Albert
Odzimkowski (185) vs. Jason
Radcliffe (186.5)*
Adam
Tomasik (207)** vs. Oumar Sy
(206)
* Radcliffe missed weight by .5 pounds and has been fined 30% of
his purse.
** Tomasik missed weight by one pound and has been fined 30% of his
purse.